Watching the pretty nurse walk away, Xia Wenbin stared at the System interface in utter bewilderment.
Just like that, over a simple dressing change, he had managed to tank the pretty nurse's favorability rating straight into the negative numbers!
Was he really that hopeless at romance? Was he completely incapable of making a girl happy? Still, he had secured the Emotion Points, so at least he wasn't at a loss.
Lying on his hospital bed, Xia Wenbin let his imagination wander for a bit. He felt that the girls at his own university fell far short compared to Fang Lan; somehow, the girls back on campus lacked a certain charm and all seemed rather cookie-cutter.
Yet according to his roommates, Jiangzhou University actually boasted quite a few campus beauties. Surely they wouldn't be any worse than Fang Lan!
Before long, the voices of a middle-aged male doctor and the pretty nurse drifted in from the corridor:
"Fang Lan, you're saying that young man admitted yesterday has woken up?"
"That's right, Director Liu. He was already awake when I went to change his dressings just now. He asked when he could be discharged, so I came to let you know right away."
"Since he's awake, there's no need to notify his family. Besides, all his vital signs are basically normal with no issues."
*Squeak—creak—*
The ward door pushed open. A male doctor in his late forties with thick black-framed glasses, slightly grey hair, and a white lab coat walked over to Xia Wenbin's bedside, accompanied by the pretty nurse.
Seeing the doctor arrive, Xia Wenbin wanted to know how he had ended up at the hospital yesterday, so he hurried to ask, "Doctor, what happened to me? I remember I was by the lake yesterday, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital."
Director Liu adjusted his glasses and proceeded to recount the whole sequence of events to Xia Wenbin from start to finish:
"Young man, don't worry! Our hospital received a call from a citizen via 120 yesterday stating that a young man had accidentally fallen into the lake. You were fished out of the water by a kind-hearted angler and sent here.
The strange thing is, we didn't find any serious injuries on you—just some minor scrapes on your head, probably caused by scraping against something when you fell in. Do you remember how you ended up in the water yesterday?"
Xia Wenbin had no idea how to answer that question. He certainly couldn't tell them he'd accidentally been bound to a System! He would definitely get hauled off to a research lab to be dissected.
So he fabricated an excuse: "Doctor, I'm not really sure what happened. Everything just went black in front of my eyes, and then I passed out. Could this have something to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten all day?"
Hearing this, Director Liu picked up the test report in his hand, glanced at it, and said, "The blood test report does indicate that you have mild hypoglycemia."
Perhaps feeling that someone so young should know better than to neglect his health, Director Liu stepped forward, gently patted him on the shoulder, and urged:
"Young man, you still need to eat your meals on time, and remember to exercise more often! Hypoglycemia isn't a big deal. Just get some rest, and once there are no issues, you can be discharged."
"Director Liu: Favorability +2, acquired Director Liu's pity emotion +10."
"Acquired Fang Lan's pity emotion +10."
Xia Wenbin hadn't expected that Director Liu and the pretty nurse would care so much about a complete stranger, each contributing 10 points of sympathy. It just went to show the truth of the ancient saying: healers have benevolent hearts.
"Thank you, Doctor! I will definitely remember your words. And thank you for taking care of me, Nurse. I'm planning to be discharged around noon today," Xia Wenbin said, expressing his gratitude with a sincere expression.
Ever since he left home for college, he had rarely received genuine care from anyone, yet these two people were looking out for him straight from the heart.
"Alright, you just get some rest! Nurse Fang can handle your discharge paperwork for you in a little while," Director Liu said, handing the test reports over to Fang Lan before leaving the ward.
"Mister, is there anything else you need? If not, I'll be going now. If you need to process your discharge, you can press the call button."
Seeing Director Liu leave and realizing she and Xia Wenbin were the only ones left in the room, Fang Lan felt a somewhat awkward atmosphere settling in and wanted to excuse herself.
Seeing the pretty nurse rush to leave, Xia Wenbin was terrified he wouldn't have another chance to explain himself after discharge, so he hurried to speak:
"Nurse, I'm sorry! I lost my composure just now, and I apologize. But you really are gorgeous—much prettier than the girls at Jiangzhou University."
Fang Lan, who had been about to pack up and leave, suddenly felt like laughing when she heard words that sounded less like an apology and more like a compliment.
She thought to herself that he was just a student after all, and decided not to hold his impolite behavior against him. On second thought, though, she figured she might as well tease him a bit.
"Is that so? So being a student gives you the right to go around staring at girls? If you don't learn some manners at your age, you're going to suffer a huge loss after graduation." With that, she shot Xia Wenbin a fierce glare.
Feeling the "murderous aura" in Fang Lan's gaze, Xia Wenbin panicked and hastily explained, "Sister, I really didn't mean it, please don't be mad! I'm about to be discharged and won't be coming to the hospital often anyway. I just didn't want to leave you with a bad impression before I left."
Watching the flustered boy before her, Fang Lan couldn't help covering her mouth with a smile.
"Alright, little brat! Sister won't hold it against you this time. Remember to call me when you're ready to do your discharge paperwork later. Also, I certainly don't want to see a patient I've cared for end up back in the hospital, so let's hope we never see each other again."
After delivering this serious statement of her stance, Fang Lan turned and left the ward.
"Fang Lan: Favorability +4, acquired Fang Lan's joy emotion 10 points."
Watching the pretty young nurse's retreating back, Xia Wenbin was overcome with a sense of loss. Once he left this hospital, would he ever cross paths with the cold-externally-but-kind-internally Fang Lan again? Probably not.
"Host detected to harbor special feelings toward Fang Lan. Would you like subsequent missions to include related tasks concerning her?"
Just as Xia Wenbin was lamenting his inability to spend more time with the pretty nurse, the System's prompt suddenly rang in his ear.
"Missions related to Fang Lan? Doesn't that mean she'll become my future Bound Tool?"
"Not bad, not bad! Having a pretty nurse as a Bound Tool to assist me sounds amazing! System, accept it right now!"
With such a great deal on the table, Xia Wenbin naturally chose to agree. Only a fool would pass up the chance to have a pretty nurse become a tool to help him harvest Emotion Points.
At noon, with the pretty nurse's help, Xia Wenbin completed his discharge procedures. The moment he stepped out of the inpatient building, he felt instantly refreshed.
Looking at the bustling crowds coming and going at the hospital, Xia Wenbin couldn't help but sigh: having a healthy body really is more important than anything else, because a hospital is definitely not something a poor student like him can afford to stay in.
The only silver lining was that the nurses at this hospital were all young and pretty, and they took very good care of their patients—especially that pretty nurse, Fang Lan.
On his way back to school, looking at his flat wallet, Xia Wenbin's mood plummeted.
The allowance he scraped together through thrifty living each month wasn't much to begin with, and after buying a gift for Xu Xin recently, he had practically nothing left. Even with his recent part-time job, after a stint in the hospital, he now had a grand total of 200 yuan left to his name.
This was bad, really bad! There was still over half a month left until the end of the month. Aside from the meals provided at his part-time job, every other expense required money. He urgently needed to figure out a way to make some cash.
Xia Wenbin spent the entire walk pondering how to make money, and before he knew it, he had unconsciously reached the gates of Jiangzhou University.
Looking at the familiar school gates before him, Xia Wenbin felt a strange shift in his emotions.
Yesterday, he had been so distressed he wanted to flee this place, but starting today, he would no longer be that worthless nobody of the past.
Because now he possessed the System. As long as he worked hard to harvest Emotion Points, he could have everything he ever wanted.
Stepping through the gates, Xia Wenbin felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. The judgmental stares of passersby yesterday now seemed like nothing more than fleeting smoke. At this moment, his mindset had completely transformed.
[Ding—Binding Mission: Campus Beauty Lin Yanran's Predicament.]
Mission Objective: Deliver a pack of sanitary napkins to campus beauty Lin Yanran. Location: 4th stall of the women's restroom on the east side of the 2nd floor of the Commercial Building. Time limit: 6 minutes! Upon completion, the Host will be bound in an auxiliary relationship with Lin Yanran, who will serve as a Bound Tool to harvest Emotion Points for the Host.
Please hurry and complete the mission!
(Note: The brand, model, and comfort level will determine the final reward and Lin Yanran's favorability toward the Host.)